Dr. Sam Agyin-Birikorang

Sam Agyin-Birikorang, Ph.D.
Research Leader & Agronomist

USDA Agricultural Research Service

Sam.Birikorang@usda.gov
Office: 541-278-4403
Cell: 256-335-5977

Located at the Pendleton Station

Dr. Sam Agyin-Birikorang (Sam) is the new Research Leader for the USDA – ARS Unit at Pendleton, OR, and doubles as the Agronomist for the Unit. Sam took over from the long-serving Research Leader, Dr. Dan Long, who retired a couple of years ago. Sam joined the Station from the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), a center for agricultural development headquartered in Alabama and operates globally, mainly in Africa and southern Asia. He has more than 25 years of research in Agronomy and Soil Science with vast experience in plant nutrition, nutrient management and soil fertility. Over the past two decades, Sam has directly worked with producers in many countries including Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote D’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, and Uganda, among others. He has held research and teaching positions at the University of Florida, Gainesville (USA), Montclair State University, New Jersey (USA), University of Ghent, Belgium, and University of Ghana in Accra. Since 2010, he has been conducting international training programs annually on “Advances in Agricultural Production, Soil, Water and Nutrient Management” for agricultural practitioners, researchers, policy makers, innovative farmers, agro-input dealers, etc., by either bringing the participants to the United States for the training or conducting the training overseas. To date Sam has directly trained over 1200 people from 72 different countries. He has provided consultancy services for several projects under the USAID’s Feed the Future (FTF) initiatives in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia. He served as a Co-Lead for Action Tract 3 (AT3 - Global Soils Hub) of the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS). He is a founding member  of the “Transdisciplinary Processes for Sustainable Phosphorus Management Program (Global TraPs)” and the “Coalition of Action for Soil Health (CA4SH)”. He serves as a Steering Committee Member of the Global Partnership on Nutrient Management (GPNM) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Dr. Sam Agyin-Birikorang holds a doctorate in Agronomy, Soil and Water Sciences from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in agronomy/soil science from the University of Ghent in Belgium. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from the University of Ghana.

 

     

 

Sam’s team:

Photo coming soon

Rachel Chambers
Technician